The cistron DNA transcribes into a variety of RNA intermediates. The last version is used as a template in synthesis of a polypeptide chain. A proprotein is an inactive protein containing one or more inhibitory peptides that can be activated when the inhibitory sequence is removed by proteolysis during posttranslational modification.

Alright, got it? I’m sure after reading that a few times you’re an expert and ready for an AP level test, right?

Obviously, I was not, which resulted in the astounding 56 percent I received on my protein synthesis AP Biology test. I can honestly say that the 56 was the single lowest grade I have received in either Honors Biology or AP Biology, and what is to blame for this unfortunate event?

Cyber Days.

Tuition is around $16,000 per year, which means, I shouldn’t be left to homeschool myself. The reason my family pays these expenses is so I do not have to teach myself. Subjects like AP Biology, AP Calculus BC, and AP Chemistry are not easy to understand by simply reading about them or watching random internet videos from user “mrfox218.”

If I wanted to fail an AP test, I would get an AP course guide book and try to teach myself from it, which is essentially what a Cyber Day is. I don’t blame my AP teachers for my failures. I understand that an AP course includes of a lot of material which needs to be covered by the end of the year. Teachers can’t omit material for the seemingly endless snowstorms or their students won’t do well on the AP test.

However, having students teach themselves incredibly hard subjects is just as bad, if not worse than omitting lessons in the end. Speaking for myself, I can say that trying to teach myself protein synthesis and bacterial transformation is almost as bad as never learning it at all, and it has an eerily similar effect on my grade.

Having a few extra days tacked onto the end of the year is a much better option than Cyber Days. My grades have proven that I am not proficient in teaching myself complicated subjects and need a teacher to bring me through it step by step and be available for any questions I might have, which is what my parents pay for.

Yes, the AP test dates will remain on the same dates so the few extra days at the end of the school year may not matter when it comes to these tests. What will matter, though, is the fact that I will actually learn and understand these concepts which will not only add to my intelligence as a whole, which is the goal of education, but also help my grade in the class.

Four weeks after the atrocious grade situation and a few 100 percent grades later, I am still failing AP Biology because of one Cyber Day assignment. All I can do now is hope that the terrible winter is over and that there will be no more Cyber Days, so I have a chance of passing.

Lilly Stannard is an In-Focus Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.